"Welcome class." I hear a man say.
I had taken a seat next to Thomas and Gally.
Gally had decided to tell me how cool it was that I didn't take their crap because he would have, but he couldn't hit a girl.
"She was the first girl I think I've ever wanted to break that rule for and slap." Gally says.
I laugh.
"Oh I'm not kidding." He says.
"Class!" The man yells.
We all quiet down.
"That's better. My name is Jorge. I don't care about Mr or Mrs. Call me Jorge." He tells us.
"This is a math class. So we're learning math. I won't put up with your crap. So don't try it. Don't try to act like you don't know what an equals sighn is. I'm look into at you Gally."
We all snicker.
"If you need help, I'll help. But don't play games in here. I mean serious business. Don't pull the 'what's that?' game with me. You all know what multiplication is." He tells us.
"About myself. I'm a math teacher. Obviously. I treat my students with the same respect they give me. So don't be a shank. Yes, I've picked up your language."
I'm begining to like this class.
"Today I'll just be telling you stuff that you don't care about and won't pay attention to. So, in that case, just talk to each other. I don't care." Jorge says.
"Gally, what's an equal sighn?" Thomas asks him.
We laugh and Gally rolls his eyes, obviously annoyed.
"Dude, chill." Thomas says. "I'm kidding."
"Whatever." Gally says.
I get the sense that they don't get along. At all.
I decide to go and maybe make new friends.
"Hey, I'm (Y/N)." I say and sit next to the girls I saw at the gas station. They both offer smiles.
"Hey! What you did back there was pretty cool." The blonde girl says. "Newt's my brother."
"Really?" I ask. She nods.
"I'm Sonya. That's Harriet."
"Nice to meet you." I tell them.
"It's nice to meet the girl who helped my brother. I never had the guts to do that." Sonya says.
"Sonya's pretty bad if I say so myself. But she wouldn't have ever touched Alex." Harriet says.
"I'm just being a good friend." I tell them.
They both share a knowing look before looking back at me.
"The girls here pick on him all the time. They're mean." Harriet says.
"Yeah. I can tell." I say.
"Seriously thank you." Sonya says.
"It was no problem." I say.
"If you count possibly getting expelled no problem, then yeah." A boy says from behind us.
"Aris!" Sonya yells.
"Hey Sonya." He says.
"I'm (Y/N)." I tell him.
"I know. I'm Aris. As you could've guessed." He says.
"How did you know?" I ask.
"I know a lot. Plus, I'm pretty sure everyone knows your name." He says.
"Oh." I say.
"It's fine. People will forget anything ever happened in a week. Nobody will miss the girls and we're all gonna get on with our lives." Aris says.
Sonya and Harriet just nod.
"Class is over. Hurry on to your second class." Jorge yells. "Don't wait for the apocalypse. Go now. Get a move on."
We all rush out of the class before I grab Thomas's shoulder.
"Where's umm, this class?" I ask.
"Science. It's in that building. Alby will be there." He tells me.
"Thanks Thomas." I say.
"You're welcome." He says.
I walk to science class, which is a far walk and I trip in the grass.
"You're kidding." I say.
I quickly brush off the first and get up again.
I'm gonna be late.
I run the rest of the way and I finally make it.
I swing open the door.
"Nice that you could make it. Have a seat next to Alby Ms. (Y/L/N)." The teacher says.
I hurry to the seat next to Alby to avoid any stares.
"Hello, I'm Mary Cooper. You are yo call me Mrs. Cooper. This class is simple." She says smiling.
"Follow the rules. This means no fighting, no talking over me, and follow directions." She walks to the board and writes down the rules.
"I will not tolerate disrespectful behavior."
She walks back to her desk and stands behind it.
"You are to come to my class prepared to learn. Keep an open mind and be kind to everyone please. We are problem solvers not problem makers." She tells us.
Her hair was nearly curled and shoulder length. The dark color looked nice against the white of her lab coat.
"Be prepared for hands on experiences in this class. We will also be taking notes and tests. If you pay attention, you will do well. Slack, you will not do as well. I like to have fun but we can't have fun unless you listen." She continues to talk.
"I would love to get everyone's names." She says.
She points to me as I'm sitting in the first row at the very end.
"(Y/N)." I say.
"Alby."
"Chuck."
"Winston."
"Harriet."
"Rachel."
"Jeff."
"Aris."
"Clint."
And this went on until everyone was named.
"It's always nice to learn names." She smiles at us.
"It's time to dismiss to get changed for your two hour class. Go back to your dorms now and change." She tells us.
I run back to my dorm room quickly so I can get changed and take off my makeup.
I reach the door and swing it open. Teresa is already here.
She gives me a smile but it quickly goes away.
"She gave you a black eye." She says.
"I know. Thomas already told me." I tell her.
"You okay?" She asks.
"Yeah." I smile.
"I think it's brave. You stood up for him." She explains.
"Yeah. I hope he's not mad."
"He's probably proud."
I pull out a pair of jeans overalls with a rose stitched into them and a white shirt. I slide off my dress, tights, jacket, and shoes and throw on the wite shirt.
I then pull on the overalls and dig through the drawers until I find my socks.
I put a pair of white ones on, and grab my red tennies.
"Wow. Look at you." Teresa says.
"Look at yourself!" I yell. "You're stunning."
She's wearing a collared red shirt and high waisted black pants with a cherry design on them. Her hair is pulled back into a sleek bun and she looks very professional.
"You look cute." She says as I put my hair into a ponytail with my red scrunchie.
"Thanks."

I grab the pair of sunglasses off my vanity, and my headband and head out of the door. As soon as I step out I see Newt.
"Newt!" I yell.
"Hey!" He says.
A smile appears in his face as soon as he sees me. He's no longer wearing plaid pants and a black shirt.
He's traded that for an orange tree shirt and a pair of jeans.
"You look nice." He tells me.
"So do you." I say.
"Ready for gardening?" He asks.
"Ready as I'll ever be!" I tell him.
"How are you holding up? No bruises right?" He asks.
"No bruises." I tell him.
I know it's a lie. But I can't make him feel bad. He already thinks it's his fault.
"Good." He says.
We walk over to the garden where a boy who's not much older is shouting orders.
"Everyone take a seat. Nature's our friend. Sit on the grass. Come on." He encourages.
Once he sees that we're all here, he starts talking.
"Hello. I'm Zart. Some of you may remember me from last year. I graduated and have become the garden advisor." He tells us.
Newt leans over to me.
"The lady that taught us last year retired." He whispers.
"Newt, I expect you to pay attention please." Zart says.
"I was explaining something to the greenie." Newt says.
"Newt, that can wait until I'm done talking." Zart says.
"Okay, the gardens have to be looked after. They're alive and thriving. Our goal is to keep them that way. We don't want the plants to die. We eat these plants." He goes on.
"So, today you're weeding them. I'll pass out glove and I expect you to do your job." Zart says.
He starts passing out gloves.
Newt and I get a pair and go to one of the spots by the wooden structure that had plants growing underneath.
"Someone took a klunk in his food this morning." Newt whispers.
This causes me to giggle.
"Newt. Be nice." I whisper yell.
He just laughs at me.
"He used to be fun." Newt says.
We both continue to pull weeds. Some were harder to pull than others.
"He has a job now Newt." I say.
"Yeah."
"It's hot." I say.
School here was year round and started in the middle of August.
I pulled off my sunglasses and wiped my fire head with my arm.
Newt was staring at me.
Mouth wide open.
"What?" I ask.
"You said you didn't have a bruise." He looked disappointed.as he said this.
"I didn't want you to feel bad." I say.
"I should feel bad cause it's my own bloody fault!" He says loudly.
"Newt, no it's not. It's mine. I'm the one who went over there. Not you. It's not your fault okay?"
"Fine." He says.
"It's just a black eye. I'll be okay." I tell him.
"I hope so." He says back.